THE STATE AND THE FINANCE SECTOR: THE EVOLUTION OF REGULATORY APPARATUS

Abstract

This paper seeks to explain the motivation for the growth of regulation of the Australian financial sector and banking in particular. It will be argued that the pace and direction of the growth of the regulatory apparatus from the 1930s until the 1980s was set by concerns of governments about macro–economic issues rather than issues affecting the financial sector per se. The drivers of regulatory change over the last two decades of the century reflect new concerns about the efficiency and underlying stability of financial markets, and equity issues.